評(píng)論
打印
The next day my uncle and I had a small bowl of porridge and a glass of water for breakfast, lunch and supper. He did not speak much to me, but was clearly thinking hard. I often noticed him looking at me, while pretending to do something different, and he never left me alone in the kitchen with the locked chests, in which, I supposed, he kept his money. I did not like the way he looked at me, and began to wonder if he was a little crazy, and perhaps dangerous.
第二天早、中、晚飯我和我的叔叔都只喝了一小碗粥和一杯水。他對(duì)我講話不多，但很明顯地他在使勁想什么。我經(jīng)常注意到他一邊假裝干別的事一邊看我，他也從來(lái)沒(méi)有讓我一個(gè)人單獨(dú)待在放有鎖著的柜子的廚房里。我想他一定在里面放了錢(qián)。我不喜歡他看我的那種樣子，開(kāi)始想他是不是有點(diǎn)神經(jīng)不正常，而且或許是個(gè)危險(xiǎn)人物。
After supper he said suddenly, 'Davie, I've been thinking. I promised your father a bit of money for ye before ye were born. A promise is a promise—and so I'm going to give ye...forty pounds!' These last words seemed very painful to him. He added, in a kind of scream, 'Scots!'
吃過(guò)晚飯他突然說(shuō)：“戴維，我一直在思考。你出生前我曾答應(yīng)過(guò)你父親給你一點(diǎn)錢(qián)。承諾就是承諾——我現(xiàn)在要給你……40鎊！”最后的話語(yǔ)對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)顯得非常痛苦。他用一種尖叫的聲音補(bǔ)充道：“蘇格蘭鎊！”
A Scottish pound was the same as an English shilling. I could see that his story was a lie, so I laughed at him, saying, 'Oh, think again, sir! English pounds, surely!'
一個(gè)蘇格蘭鎊相當(dāng)于一個(gè)英格蘭先令。我能看得出他在說(shuō)謊，于是我嘲笑他，說(shuō)：“噢，再想想，先生！英鎊，確定無(wú)疑！”
'That's what I said,' replied my uncle quickly. 'Go outside for a moment, and I'll get the money for ye.'
“那是我說(shuō)的。”我叔叔很快答道，“出去一會(huì)兒，我給你拿錢(qián)。”
I was smiling as I went out, sure that he would give me nothing at all. It was a dark night, and I could hear wind in the hills. 'There may be thunder later,' I thought, not knowing how important the weather would be to me that night.
我出去時(shí)微笑著，敢肯定他什么也不會(huì)給我。夜晚天黑黑的，我能聽(tīng)到山野里的風(fēng)聲。“之后可能會(huì)打雷，”我想，不知道那晚的天氣對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)將是何等重要。
But when my uncle called me in again, he counted thirty eight English pounds in gold into my hands. It clearly hurt him to do it, and he kept back the last two pounds, but I did not mind that. Surprised and pleased, I thanked him warmly.
但當(dāng)我叔叔把我又叫進(jìn)去時(shí)，他將價(jià)值38英鎊的金幣數(shù)著放在我的手里。顯然他是不情愿那么做的，他扣了最后兩個(gè)英鎊，但是我沒(méi)有在意。我又驚又喜，熱烈地感謝他。
'Now,' he said, looking cleverly at me, 'ye can give me something, Davie. I'm getting old now, and I need help.'
“那么，”他狡黠地看著我說(shuō)道，“你可以給我一些東西，戴維。我現(xiàn)在變老了，我需要幫助。”
'Of course, sir,' I answered. 'What can I do?'
“當(dāng)然可以，先生，”我回答道，“我能做什么？”
'Well, go outside and climb the stairs at the other end of the house, where the building isn't finished yet. Go up to the room at the top, and bring down the chest that ye'll find there. It's got valuable papers in it.'
“好的，出去，爬上在那個(gè)還未建完的房子的另一端的樓梯。爬到位于房子的頂層的房間去，把你在那兒發(fā)現(xiàn)的柜子拿下來(lái)。里面有重要的文件。”
'Can I have a light, sir?' I asked.
“我能點(diǎn)盞燈嗎，先生？”我問(wèn)道。
'No,' he said sharply. 'No lights in my house!'
“不，”他厲聲說(shuō)道，“我的房子里不能點(diǎn)燈！”
'Very well, sir. Are the stairs good?'
“好吧，先生。樓梯是好的嗎？”
'They're grand,' said he. 'The stairs are grand.
“好的，”他說(shuō)，“樓梯是好的。”
Out I went into the night. As I was feeling my way along the outside wall, there was a sudden flash of lightning, then darkness again. I found the stairs and started climbing. I was about fifteen metres above the ground, when there was another flash of lightning. That was lucky for me, because it showed me that the steps were uneven, and that I could easily fall to my death. 'These are the grand stairs!' I thought. 'Perhaps my uncle wants me to die!' Now I was very careful, and I felt each step with my hands before I put my foot on it. A few steps later my hand felt cold stone, and then nothing more. The stairs ended there, twenty metres above the ground. I felt cold with fear, when I thought of the danger that I had been in. Sending a stranger up those stairs in the dark was sending him straight to his death.
我走進(jìn)夜色中。我沿著外墻摸索著時(shí)，一道閃電忽然閃過(guò)，緊接著又是黑黝黝的。我找到了樓梯并且開(kāi)始爬起來(lái)。我已離地大約十五米高，這時(shí)又有一道閃電閃過(guò)。那對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)是幸運(yùn)的，因?yàn)樗蛭冶砻鳂翘菔遣黄降模液苋菀姿に馈！斑@就是不錯(cuò)的樓梯！”我想道，“我伯伯可能想讓我死掉！”現(xiàn)在我很當(dāng)心起來(lái)，踩每一腳前都用手仔細(xì)地摸摸踏腳處。又爬了幾步之后，我的手碰到了冰冷的石頭，然后再也沒(méi)有東西了。樓梯到頭了，離地20米高。我一想起我所處的險(xiǎn)境就害怕得直發(fā)冷。讓一個(gè)陌生人在黑暗中上那樓梯，就是把他直接送到死神面前。
